Henry’s Tacos from “People Like Us”

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Last weekend, the Grim Cheaper and I finally decided to check out People Like Us.  And while I can’t say that I loved it (I am not big on depressing movies), it was an enjoyable watch and Chris Pine was, as always, oh-so-yummy.  And the flick was filmed in its entirety in Los Angeles, so there’s that.  Winking smile  Anyway, while watching, I became a wee-bit intrigued with Henry’s Tacos – a walk-up taqueria where several scenes were filmed.  In one of the scenes that took place there, I noticed a sign in the background that, on first glance, I thought read “Silver Lake” and immediately assumed that Henry’s was located in that area.  And while I made a mental note to do some further research on the place, for whatever reason (probably too much champagne Winking smile), I promptly forgot about it.

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So imagine my surprise when I spotted the place on the corner of Moorpark Street and Tujunga Avenue in Studio City last Monday morning while heading to one of my favorite stores, Swag Antiques, for a little retail therapy.  As it turns out, the sign behind Henry’s is actually for a bar named the Starlite Room.  Yes, I am that blonde!  Anyway, I could not believe my good fortune in stumbling upon the restaurant and immediately pulled over to snap some pics.

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (5 of 9)

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (4 of 9)

Henry’s Tacos was originally founded on December 13th, 1961 by an Assembly of God minister from Nebraska named Henry Comstock.  The Googie-style walk-up eatery was designed by architect John B. Ferguson and, at the time of its opening, tacos were priced at 35 cents.  When Henry retired in 1968, his daughter, LeVonne Eloff, took over the business and ran it for more than four decades until she passed away in 2009, at which point her daughter, Janis Hood, stepped in.  Amazingly, Janis still employs the exact same recipes that her grandfather did over fifty years ago.  The corner building that houses Henry’s has also been left unaltered during all of that time and still looks exactly the same today as it did when it first opened.  As Janis said in a NoHo Arts District article, “When you have something that works . . . don’t change it.  If it works it doesn’t need to be fixed.  People like good homemade food at affordable prices . . . no matter what decade it is.”  Couldn’t agree with you more, Janis!  I wish the owner of Vitello’s (which is located down the street from Henry’s and used to be one of my very favorite restaurants) had heeded the same advice.   Sadly, the place was recently gutted and remodeled, its menu completely revamped, and currently is a sad shadow of its former self.  Sigh.  But I am happy to report that Henry’s is still going strong!

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (2 of 9)

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (7 of 9)

Unfortunately it was 10:30 in the morning when I stalked Henry’s – a bit too early for tacos (I was only on my second Starbucks of the day at the time Winking smile) – so I did not get to sample any of the fare.  But I do plan on dragging the GC back there as soon as possible for some lunch.

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (9 of 9)

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (8 of 9)

In People Like Us, long-lost siblings Sam (Chris Pine) and Frankie (Elizabeth Banks) head to Henry’s Tacos for a bite to eat after attending an AA meeting.

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Sam and Frankie are later shown eating at the taqueria once again during a montage sequence in which the two are getting to know each other.  The idea to use Henry’s Tacos in the flick was actually Chris Pine’s.  According to a June 2012 Los Angeles Daily News article, the actor, who grew up in the Studio City area, used to grab a bite to eat at Henry’s regularly during his childhood years.  Other celebrity fans of the eatery include Larry King, Brad Pitt, Sarah Hyland, Michelle Branch, James Marsden, Adam Levine, Marla Sokoloff, Jason Reitman, Tony Danza, Adam Carolla, Tom Hanks, Andy Griffith, George Lopez, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.  Mary-Kate even told Oprah Winfrey in a special “favorite foods” segment that Henry’s has “the most incredible hard shell tacos I’ve ever had”.

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People Like Us is not the first production to film at Henry’s.  The taqueria also appeared in the Season 1 episode of Adam –12 titled “Log 91: You’re Not the First Guy’s Had the Problem”, in the scene in which Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord) discuss the difficulties of being a married police officer.

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It is amazing to me that the restaurant still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in 1968 when the episode was shot.  So incredibly cool!

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Henry’s also appeared very briefly in the background of the 1978 Cheech and Chong flick Up in Smoke, in the scene in which “Stoned Motorcycle Cop” (Otto Felix) pulled over Pedro De Pacas (Cheech Marin) and Anthony ‘Man’ Stoner (Tommy Chong).

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And, according to fave website OnLocationVacations, the yet-to-air Alyssa Milano series Mistresses also filmed at Henry’s this past August.

Henry's Tacos People Like Us (1 of 9)

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Henry’s Tacos from People Like Us is located at 11401 Moorpark Street in Studio City.

A Breather

 

I spent all day yesterday running errands, so I will be taking a little breather from my blog today.  I will be back tomorrow, though, with a whole new post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Rod’s Grill from “Mad Men”

Rod's Diner - Mad Men (18 of 18)

During last year’s Haunted Hollywood postings, I blogged about the Mills View House in Monrovia, which was featured in both the Season 1 Halloween-themed episode of Picket Fences titled “Remembering Rosemary” and the 1986 horror flick House.  Well, as luck would have it, since that time I have been lucky enough to meet Sabin Gray and Bryan Gerber, the owners of the property who also run a really fun store in Pasadena called Friends of Dorothy.  While I was in their shop recently, Sabin happened to ask if I had ever stalked Rod’s Grill in Arcadia as a Season 5 episode of Mad Men had been shot on the premises.  Well, believe you me, I absolutely freaked out upon learning this information because I had never before even heard of the place.  So I immediately added the restaurant to my To-Stalk list and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there just a few days later.

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Rod’s Grill, which was originally established in 1946, is fittingly situated right along the historic Route 66.  The current owner, Manny Romero, purchased the already-established eatery in 1996.  Amazingly, the decades-old diner was almost torn down to make way for the expansion of a Mercedes Benz dealership in 2006.  In a mind-boggling move, the government of Arcadia, claiming eminent domain, came thisclose to purchasing the site and turning it over it to the Rusnak dealership, which at the time, according to the Castle Coalition website, brought in ten percent of the city’s tax revenue.  Um, I’m pretty sure that’s not what our forefathers had in mind when they created the Fifth Amendment.  Thankfully though, concerned citizens stepped in and saved Rod’s from the wrecking ball and the place is still going strong to this day.

Rod's Diner - Mad Men (16 of 18)

Rod's Diner - Mad Men (15 of 18)

The GC and I ended up absolutely loving Rod’s Grill!  We went to the eatery for breakfast and I was floored to see that both sausage links and sausage patties were offered on the menu.  Most places typically only serve links and, being a patties girl, myself, I usually get the shaft.  Not at Rod’s, though.  I am very happy to report that the sausage was PHENOMENAL and the GC and I wound up taking his father there the next weekend for breakfast, and then his father ended up returning for a bite the following morning, as well.  The place is that good!  Smile

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Rod's Diner - Mad Men (3 of 18)

More than the food, though, the retro, untouched-since-the-‘50s (in a good way) ambiance is what makes Rod’s Grill so special and what keeps film crews coming back to shoot on the premises year after year.

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Rod's Diner - Mad Men (4 of 18)

In the Season 5 episode of Mad Men titled “Far Away Places”, the interior of Rod’s Diner stood in for the restaurant section of a supposed Plattsburg, New York-area Howard Johnson’s motor lodge.  According to the Aradia’s Best website, a location manager for the series was scouting the city’s Chamber of Commerce for an upcoming episode and wandered inside to ask if any other nearby locales had a 1960s look.  A city worker mentioned Rod’s Diner and the rest, as they say, is history.  You can see some great pictures of the filming on Arcadia’s Best here.

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Rod's Diner - Mad Men (6 of 18)

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Rod's Diner - Mad Men (1 of 18)

The booth where Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) sat in the episode is the one located closest to the front door, next to the counter area.

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For the exterior of the hotel, a real life former Howard Johnson’s motor lodge (now a Regency Inn & Suites) located at 14624 Dalewood Street in Baldwin Park was used.  You can read an article about the filming that took place there on the Zap2It website here.

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Like Jimmie’s house from Pulp Fiction, which I blogged about yesterday, there seems to be quite a bit of online confusion about where the Howard Johnson’s from the episode is located.  While doing research for this post, I was absolutely gobsmacked (LOVE that word!) to come across a fascinating comment thread about the location of the “Far Away Places” diner on the Hit Fix website.  You can read through it below.  I couldn’t agree more with commenter Michael R, who said, “Amazing how some people can be so sure about something that’s totally untrue . . . maybe think before you speak?”  A man after my own heart, I swear!  And Mr. Belvedere, who said, “Wow!  How can so many people be so sure about so many locations?  What transpired above is amazing . . . “  It truly IS amazing, Mr. Belvedere.  For the record, the diner that appeared in the “Tomorrowland” episode of Mad Men was NOT Mel’s Diner on Sunset (as stated by Potzer37) nor the Pulp Fiction diner, aka the Hawthorne Grill, as stated by PF.  The “Tomorrowland” diner was actually Bob’s Big Boy Broiler in Downey, which I blogged about here.  And, as I just showed, the diner that appeared in the “Far Away Places” episode was NOT the Hawthorne Grill (as stated by James, Geoff, and LJA), which, according to the Roadside Peek website, was torn down in 1999, but Rod’s Grill in Arcadia.

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Our incredibly nice server informed us of several other productions that had also been filmed on site, including the ill-fated series Luck, on which Rod’s was a regular hangout for Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Lonnie (Ian Hart), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), and Renzo (Ritchie Coster).

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And the 1997 movie Sprung, which I, unfortunately, could not find a copy of anywhere with which to make decent screen captures for this post.  I did however spot the restaurant pop up briefly in the flick’s preview on YouTube, which is where I got the caps pictured below.

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You can watch that preview by clicking below.

And while she also said that 2000’s Lucky Numbers was filmed on the premises, I scanned through the flick yesterday and did not spot the diner anywhere.  According to this Arcadia Patch article, the restaurant was also used regularly on the series Judging Amy, although I am unsure of which episodes it appeared in.

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Rod's Diner - Mad Men (11 of 18)

On a side-note – I would like to wish my mom a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!  I love you, mom, and wish we could celebrate together!

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Sabin and Bryan, owners of the Friends of Dorothy store, for telling me about this location!  Smile

Rod's Diner - Mad Men (13 of 18)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Rod’s Grill from the “Far Away Places” episode of Mad Men is located at 41 West Huntington Drive in Arcadia.

Jimmie’s House from “Pulp Fiction” – the Correct One!

Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (17 of 20)

Last week, a location photographer named Cris emailed me to ask for some stalking help.  Turns out he had just scouted a house located at 4507 Kraft Avenue in Studio City and the owner (who bought the abode in 2009) had informed him that the residence had been used as Jimmie Dimmick’s (Quentin Tarantino’s) house in Pulp Fiction.  Cris was a bit confused, though, as the place looked nothing at all like what he remembered of Jimmie’s pad in the 1994 thriller.  So he did some online digging later that day and discovered that several websites confirmed what the homeowner had told him.  Still not convinced, though, Cris contacted me to see if I might be willing to either verify or discount the rumors.  And because I quite simply HATE, HATE, HATE erroneous location information being out there, I happily obliged!  Thankfully it did not take me long to find the answer to this conundrum.

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One look at the residence located at 4507 Kraft Avenue via Google Street View and I knew it was not the right place.  Jimmie’s house in the movie did not have a curved front door, nor did I remember it being L-shaped.   So I popped in my Pulp Fiction DVD, scanned ahead to to the portion of the movie that took place at Jimmy’s house and immediately noticed an address number of “4149” on the curb in the background of the scene.  Knowing that the simplest answer is most often the correct one, I decided to begin my hunt on Kraft Avenue, the street where most websites said the abode was located.  I did a quick Google search of “4149 Kraft Avenue” and, sure enough, the Street View of that address matched perfectly to what had appeared onscreen – which absolutely shocked me!  If the location was that easy to find, why on earth is there erroneous information about it out there??  The answer – shoddy research, which irks me to no end.  One person says that Jimmie’s house is located at 4507 Kraft Avenue and everyone else just takes it at face value.  There are so many blogs out there on which locations from other sites are merely copied in their entirety with no verification or new research done – which in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion is both lazy and unoriginal.  As I stated recently in my post on the correct A Nightmare on Elm Street bridge, if one is going to take the time to write a blog or publish a book, then they should also take the time to make sure their information is valid.  I just finished reading O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It in which author William C. Dear repeatedly states the mantra, “Never assume, always verify.”  LOVE IT!  (The book is PHENOMENAL by the way!   I went in thinking Dear was a total fruitcake for believing O.J. is innocent, but am now completely convinced of that fact!  If you are interested, you can visit his website here.)

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As you can see below, the two sculpted hedges and streetlight in front of 4149 Kraft Avenue match up perfectly to what appeared onscreen in Pulp Fiction in the scene in which Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) arrived at Jimmie’s house.

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Jimmie (1 of 3)

From there, finding Jimmie’s house via aerial views was a snap.  As it turns out, Jimmie’s pad is located at 4145 Kraft Avenue.

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Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (7 of 20)

While the front exterior of the residence was never actually shown in Pulp Fiction, the backyard area was used extensively in the scene in which The Wolf hosed down Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson).  As you can see in the below screen capture as compared to the aerial view, the unique roofline (blue arrow), porch overhang (pink arrow), diagonally-angled chimney (red arrow), and placement of the garage (green arrow) are exact matches.

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As is the wooden fence that was visible behind Jules in the scene.

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You can see a partial view of that fence in real life in the photograph below.

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The only portion of the home’s exterior that appeared in Pulp Fiction was the front door.

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Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (18 of 20)

As you can see below, the placement of the front door (at the southern edge of the house, next to a room that pops out), is also a match, although the actual door, and house color, have since been changed.

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Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (15 of 20)

And thanks to Bing aerial views, you can also see that the house was, in fact, painted pink at one point in real life, just as it was in Pulp Fiction.

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Because I also come from the “never assume, always verify” school of thought, I did a bit more research and happened to find a July 2007 Los Angeles Times article about Michael Glenn Mullen which stated that the soon-to-be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff happened to grow up in the Kraft Avenue house that was used as Jimmie’s residence in Pulp Fiction.  The blurb also mentioned that Michael’s brother, Kevin, still owned the place.  So I did a quick search of property records and found that 4145 Kraft Avenue is, indeed, owned by a Kevin Mullen.  Voila!  During his lifetime, Michael and Kevin’s father, Jack Mullen, was a press agent for countless Hollywood stars including Dyan Cannon, Peter Graves, Ann-Margret, Anthony Quinn, Julie Andrews, Steve McQueen, and Jock Mahoney, some of whom would even stop by the residence from time to time.  So incredibly cool!

Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (14 of 20)

Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (13 of 20)

And while I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,702-square-foot house, which was originally built in 1936, was also used in the filming, I could not find any real life photographs of the interior with which to verify that hunch.

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March 29th, 2018 UPDATE – As I just learned via Curbed Los Angeles, Jimmie’s house is currently for sale! If you have an extra $1.4 million laying around, it can be yours!  For the rest of us, MLS photos of the property are aplenty, thankfully, and I can now say with certainty that the real life interior of the home was utilized in Pulp Fiction.  As you can see below, the kitchen still looks almost exactly the same today as it did when the movie was filmed 24 years ago.

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As does the living room;

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bedroom;

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and backyard.

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Sadly, the listing does not include any pictures of the infamous hand-washing bathroom.

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Sadder still, the residence is being marketed as a “development opportunity,” which means it will likely be gutted or torn down completely.  Not cool!  I do love the fact that the homeowners have a Pulp Fiction poster prominently on display, though!

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Cris for asking me to find this location! Smile

Jimmie's House Pulp Fiction (12 of 20)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Jimmie’s house from Pulp Fiction (the correct one) is located at 4145 Kraft Avenue in Studio City.  In the movie, The Wolf pulled up in front of the house located next door, at 4149 Kraft Avenue.  The “Smallest Park” from the “Smallest Park” episode of Parks and Recreation (which I blogged about here) can be found just up the street, in the parking lot located next to 4378 Kraft Avenue.  Vitello’s Italian Restaurant from The Deep End of the Ocean and Robert Blake-fame (which I blogged about here) is located just around the corner at 4349 Tujunga Avenue, as is Robert Blake’s former house (which I blogged about here) at 11604 Dilling Street; The Brady Bunch house (which I blogged about here) at 11222 Dilling Street; and the house where Kevin Federline and Britney Spears got married (which I blogged about here) at 4053 Farmdale AvenueHenry’s Tacos from People Like Us (which I have yet to blog about) is also located up the street at 11401 Moorpark Street.

The Reichman Mansion from “Major Crimes”

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The weather in L.A. has finally turned and there is now a crispness in the air ensuring that jacket season is finally upon us.  It is also, unfortunately, time to bid adieu to this year’s Haunted Hollywood postings.  Sadness!  For the next eleven months, I will just be writing about regular ol’ stalking locations.  So here goes.  In early October, when the Season 1 episode of Major Crimes titled “Dismissed with Prejudice” aired, I became absolutely enthralled with the gorgeous ultra-modern mansion that was featured in it.  So I immediately set about searching for the place (before the episode was even over) and, thanks to the fact that the residence is currently for sale, it was not too hard to track down.  A simple Google search of modern-style houses in the Hollywood area yielded this real estate listing, so I immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper, along with my good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna and Kim who were in town visiting from Ohio, right on out to stalk it.

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In person, the house did not disappoint!  The abode, which was originally built in 1958, but has since been extensively remodeled (we’re talking completely gutted both inside and out), currently boasts 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, 3,906 square feet of living space, and a 0.25-acre plot of land.  Thanks to the Berg Properties website and fellow stalker E.J.’s The Movieland Directory, I learned that the dwelling has a fairly vast list of former celebrity residents.  For a time the place belonged to character actor Frank Marth and it was later owned by comedian Jack Black and his then girlfriend Laura Kightlinger, who purchased the pad in 2002 for $1,075,000.  When Jack and Laura broke up, he bought out her stake of the residence for $699,000 and then subsequently sold the place in 2007 for $1,210,000.  The remodel/knock down took place at some point thereafter.

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Reichman Mansion Major Crimes (1 of 6)

The dwelling that originally stood on the property looks to have been Spanish in style (as you can see in the image below which I got from the Historic Aerials website) and, measuring 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,959 square feet, was much smaller than its successor.  You can check out a (not very great) photograph of the original home on an old real estate listing here.  At the time, the property was described as being a “spectacular ‘50s post & beam hacienda”.

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As you can see in the Google Street View images below, the house was changed drastically during the remodel.

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The result is nothing short of spectacular!  The dwelling, which was constructed primarily of steel and glass, features a butterfly roof, cruciform columns, polished concrete floors, a large saltwater pool, a waterfall, a koi pond, a BBQ area, and a master suite with a spa-like bathroom that encompasses the structure’s entire second floor.  And, if you have an extra $2,795,000 lying around, it could be yours!  You can check out the home’s real estate listing here.  According to several websites (which you can see here and here), the place is currently owned by a celebrity, though, much as I tried, I could not figure out by whom.

Reichman Mansion Major Crimes (2 of 6)

Reichman Mansion Major Crimes (3 of 6)

In the “Dismissed with Prejudice” episode of Major Crimes, the residence belonged to Will Reichman (William R. Moses), an architect whom Lieutenant Mike Tau (Michael Paul Chan) put away for murder eight and a half years prior.  And I just have to say here that I absolutely LOVE me some Major Crimes!  While I was initially doubtful as to how The Closer spinoff would fare sans Kyra Sedgwick at the helm, I am very happy to report that the series is fabulous.  Bringing in the Rusty Beck character (played by the brilliant Graham Patrick Martin, who also starred as Eldridge Mackelroy on Two and a Half Men) was genius and gave the show – and Captain Raydor (Mary McDonnell) – a heart.  I cannot wait for it to start up again next season.

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For whatever reason, only the backside of the property was used in the episode.

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The interior – which is all open spaces, towering plate glass windows, and high ceilings (drool!) – was featured extensively, though.  Man, what I wouldn’t give to live there!

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The staircase is absolutely to die for!  LOVE IT!

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Thanks to fave website Curbed L.A., I learned that the dwelling was also featured in the Season 1 episode of Selling L.A. titled “Rock Star Real Estate”, as the home that former actress/Playboy Playmate-turned-Keller-Williams-broker Martha Smith showed one-time Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum.

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The episode aired on October 27th, 2011 and, at the time, the residence was for sale for $3.395 million and looked very much the same as it did in Major Crimes (although the yellow accent walls have since been painted over, thank God!)

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In the episode, Martha talks about the fact that the “small, sort of low-profile kitchen” was designed for a celebrity who “just didn’t care much about kitchens” (someone after my own heart! Winking smile).  I am not sure if said celeb ever lived on the premises or if he or she put it on the market as soon as the remodel was complete.  Either way, I am fairly certain that the place is currently vacant.

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Reichman mansion from the “Dismissed with Prejudice” episode of Major Crimes is located at 8538 Eastwood Road in the Hollywood Hills.

Halloween 2012 at Dick Van Dyke’s House

Christina Aguilera–But I Am a Good Girl Number

  As I have mentioned countless times before, this stalker is just a wee bit obsessed with the movie Burlesque.  Upon first seeing the flick in 2010, I fell head-over-heels in love with the “But I Am a Good Girl” number (which you can watch by clicking above) and Ali’s (Christina Aguilera’s) feathered costume, and promptly announced to the Grim Cheaper that we would be dressing up as Ali and Jack (Cam Gigandet) the following Halloween.  His response, “I am SO NOT wearing eyeliner!”  LOL  Because we were invited to a prom-themed Halloween party last year, though, we ended up instead dressing up as Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) and Brenda Walsh (my girl Shannen Doherty) from the Beverly Hills, 90210 “Spring Dance” episode (which you can see photographs of here).  But believe you me, as soon as November 1st rolled around, I immediately began hunting for the perfect “But I Am a Good Girl” outfit – which was not as easy as I had hoped.

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I thought for sure that I would be able to find something resembling the “But I Am a Good Girl” costume (pictured below) quite easily online, but, unfortunately, that was not the case.  While plenty of Burlesque-style outfits seemed to be available, none of them looked a thing like Ali’s.  Then, in March, I happened to come across Madame Gigi L’amour’s Esty page which featured a slew of handmade Burlesque ensembles.  And while Gigi did not have one that resembled the “But I Am a Good Girl” corset, I wrote to her and asked if she would be able to custom-make one for me.  Thankfully, I heard back from her just a few hours later and she said that she would be happy to.  She even provided some suggestions to help keep the costs down – i.e. using less Swarovski crystals than were used on the movie costume and swapping out the ostrich feathers for turkey feathers, which are much less expensive.  Oh, and she also threw in some nude-colored fishnet stockings.  At the time, I was not even aware that Ali had worn nude fishnets in the scene, but as it turns out she had!  Thank you, Gigi!

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I received the finished product at the end of May and, let me tell you, when I opened the package I just about had a heart attack!  I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY as the costume FAR exceeded my expectations.  I was devastated that I would have to wait a full five months to wear it!  And believe me, if I thought I could have gotten away with walking around Old Town Pasadena in a Burlesque costume during the summer, I so would have!  Having that thing in my closet, unworn, for five months was like the Tell-Tale Heart in Edgar Allen Poe’s story of the same name – I could almost hear it calling out to me, “Wear me!  Try me!  Come on – just put me on!”  So when Halloween did finally roll around, I was BEYOND excited to finally don the costume.  I was a little nervous, though, being that it looks quite delicate, but I am very happy to report that the outfit was completely wearable and even comfortable!

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Thankfully, the GC’s costume was much easier to find.  To become Jack, he just wore a derby-style hat (which my girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, tracked down for us), a black shirt and black slacks.  Oh, and eyeliner, which he finally (and begrudgingly) agreed to wear.

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Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  Winking smile  The “But I Am a Good Girl” outfit turned out to be my favorite Halloween costume of all time!  I did NOT want to take it off and am already trying to figure out where I can wear it next.  Words cannot express how much fun it was to walk around in that thing!

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Halloween day actually turned out to be a completely amazing whirlwind!  In the early afternoon, Miss Pinky (who dressed as, what else, Princess Pink) invited me to attend a Mad Hatter Tea Party at Walt Disney Imagineering, where she works.  Um, Halloween and Disney mixed together?  Count me in!

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The party was held outside and, as you can see below, the decorations were absolutely amazeballs.  There were tea-themed trinkets as far as the eye could see.

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The display below had all sorts of fun surprises, like a tea pot that spit water at passersby, spinning tea cups and a hidden monster who would grab at people’s feet from underneath the tablecloth.

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My favorite, though, was the Venus Flytrap that would come to life intermittently.  You could feed the plant gummy worms, stick your hand in its mouth or scratch its chin and it would respond accordingly.  So incredibly cool!

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There was also a professional photo booth set up where guests could pose for pictures with props while pretending to kill a giant octopus.  Love it!

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And no visit to WDI would be complete without a stop at the onsite Starbucks.  Smile

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At night, the GC and I headed, once again, to Malibu to visit our friends who live next-door to Dick Van Dyke.  As I mentioned in my 2011 Halloween post, DVD puts on a massive annual Halloween extravaganza at his house in the gated Serra Retreat community.  Thankfully, our friends were nice enough to invite us over again this year (even though they JUST had a baby) so that we could check out the festivities.  And while I didn’t think it would be possible, amazingly enough, this year’s spooktacular was even better than the last!  That’s Dick’s front porch pictured below . . .

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which he had decked out with a creepy hologram picture of himself;

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along with a few mannequins that writhed and shook constantly.

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As I said last year, being at Dick Van Dyke’s house on Halloween is like being in the middle of a huge horror movie set.  It is simply incredible to witness (especially for this Halloween-obsessed stalker) and there is so much to look at and so much detail put into the whole thing that it is virtually impossible to see it all.  In the video below, Dick says, “We’ve got the Haunted House in Disney beat!” and he couldn’t be more right!

As you can imagine, I ate it all up with a spoon – from huge mannequins that moved, talked and jumped out at passerby;

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to a witch stirring a bubbling caldron;

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to figurines in various states of undead;

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to the burn victim below, who looked so real it was almost unbelievable –

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check out his shoes, the attention to detail is amazing! –

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to a huge graveyard made complete with with cauldrons, crows and random severed heads;

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to a second huge fenced-off graveyard with writhing bodies and, like last year, an invisible screen on which was projected a video of skeletons doing the Thriller dance, which I (obviously) LOVED.

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The animatronic attack dog from last year was also back.

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And the GC somehow convinced me to try to hold its leash, which was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life!  The dog of course attacked just as I got ahold of it and I pretty much jumped right out of my skin.  SO MUCH FUN!

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There were also random creatures walking around, scaring people and posing for pictures.

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At the perimeter of the extravaganza was a GINORMOUS 12-foot statue that I just had to pose in front of.

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What I did not realize at the time was that the darn thing would not only come to life, but that a guy also jumped out of it!  Thank God that didn’t happen while I was posing for a picture – I probably would have had a heart attack!

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The highlight of the night, though, had to be when James Cameron and his wife, Titanic actress Suzy Amis, came to our friends’ house – in costume! – to trick-or-treat with their kids .  And while I was too scared to ask them for a photo last year, nothing was stopping me this year!  And I am very happy to report that they honestly could NOT have been nicer!  They even told me that they had been admiring my costume earlier in the evening!  Like seriously????  James Cameron and Suzy Amis liked my costume???  OMG dying!  I know I said it last year, but I’m going to say it once again – hands down the Best.  Halloween.  Ever.   Can’t wait for 2013’s!

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You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It:  Unfortunately, because Dick Van Dyke lives inside of Serra Retreat, a gated community that is not accessible to the public, there is no stalking location for this one.  You can check out the Madame Gigi L’amour Etsy page here and her Fackbook fan page here.  And my exact costume can be purchased here.